tǎoyànㄊㄠˇ ㄧㄢˋ
annoying; (playfully) I hate you, literally “detest”
The mildest entry on this shelf. Between friends or couples '讨厌!' with a pout is mock-coy, almost affectionate. Said flatly to a stranger it is a real complaint.
fánrénㄈㄢˊ ㄖㄣˊ
annoying, bothersome
One step above 讨厌: a genuine but everyday complaint about a person, a task or a situation.
烦死了 煩死了
fán sǐ leㄈㄢˊ ㄙˇ ㄌㄜ˙
driving me crazy; so fed up, literally “annoyed to death”
死 works as an intensifier suffix: 吵死了, 热死了, 累死了. Venting, not cursing anyone.
shòubuliǎoㄕㄡˋ ㄅㄨ˙ ㄌㄧㄠˇ
can't take it anymore, literally “can't endure”
The universal cry of exasperation, said about heat, noise, people and life in general.
wúliáoㄨˊ ㄌㄧㄠˊ
boring; bored
About things it means boring; about a person it edges toward 'lame, tedious'.
méijìnㄇㄟˊ ㄐㄧㄣˋ
lame, dull, no fun, literally “no strength”
Northern-flavored dismissal: 'that's lame'. Slightly ruder than 无聊 when aimed at someone.
闭嘴 閉嘴
bìzuǐㄅㄧˋ ㄗㄨㄟˇ
shut up, literally “close mouth”
Blunt and confrontational. Between friends it can be playful ('shut up, no way!'); to a stranger it starts arguments. Softer: 别说了.
少管闲事 少管閒事
shǎo guǎn xiánshìㄕㄠˇ ㄍㄨㄢˇ ㄒㄧㄢˊ ㄕˋ
mind your own business, literally “meddle less in idle affairs”
Dismissive but not vulgar. 管闲事 alone means 'to meddle'; the 少 turns it into a warning.
懒得理你 懶得理你
lǎn de lǐ nǐㄌㄢˇ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄌㄧˇ ㄋㄧˇ
can't be bothered with you, literally “too lazy to acknowledge you”
Dismissive-casual, used to wave someone off without escalation. Implies the person isn't worth the effort.
yòuzhìㄧㄡˋ ㄓˋ
childish, immature, literally “young”
A favorite in arguments and breakups: '你怎么这么幼稚'. Stings precisely because it's a character judgment, not a curse.
小气鬼 小氣鬼
xiǎoqìguǐㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄑㄧˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
cheapskate, literally “stingy ghost”
鬼 suffix builds people-insults: 酒鬼, 色鬼, 讨厌鬼, 胆小鬼. This one is mild enough for teasing friends who never pay.
lǎnchóngㄌㄢˇ ㄔㄨㄥˊ
lazybones, literally “lazy bug”
虫 builds the teasing set: 懒虫, 糊涂虫, 跟屁虫, 可怜虫. Affectionate scolding, common toward kids and partners.
dǎnxiǎoguǐㄉㄢˇ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
coward, literally “timid ghost”
Playground-tier insult, usually a dare more than an attack.
大嘴巴
dàzuǐbaㄉㄚˋ ㄗㄨㄟˇ ㄅㄚ˙
blabbermouth; can't keep a secret, literally “big mouth”
The person you don't tell anything to. Also used as a verb for slapping someone, context separates them.
马大哈 馬大哈
mǎdàhāㄇㄚˇ ㄉㄚˋ ㄏㄚ
careless, scatterbrained person
From a 1950s crosstalk sketch about a chronically careless clerk. Mild, slightly old-fashioned, still understood by everyone.
熊孩子
xióngháiziㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄏㄞˊ ㄗ˙
demon child, brat, literally “bear child”
The internet's name for unmanageable kids and their enabling parents. 熊 as an adjective means bratty. A fixture of Chinese complaint culture.
píㄆㄧˊ
naughty, cheeky, literally “skin”
As an adjective it means mischievous: '这孩子真皮'. Teasing, never harsh. Also the root of 调皮.
shénjīngbìngㄕㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄥ ㄅㄧㄥˋ
crazy, psycho, insane, literally “nerve disease”
The most common real insult of the mild tier: '你有神经病啊' = are you out of your mind. It's the strongest thing many people will say in anger, still nowhere near the strong shelf.
有病
yǒubìngㄧㄡˇ ㄅㄧㄥˋ
what's wrong with you; sick (in the head), literally “have illness”
Shorthand of 神经病: '你有病吧' is the standard comeback to an absurd request. Mild-to-medium.
bèndànㄅㄣˋ ㄉㄢˋ
dummy, idiot; (affectionate) silly, literally “stupid egg”
蛋 builds a family of insults: 笨蛋, 坏蛋, 混蛋, 王八蛋, 滚蛋. This is its gentlest member; couples say it with a smile, strangers say it with a scowl.
báichīㄅㄞˊ ㄔ
idiot, moron, literally “white fool”
Noticeably harsher than 笨蛋: no affectionate reading. Also self-deprecating ('我这题都会错，真是白痴').
èrbǎiwǔㄦˋ ㄅㄞˇ ㄨˇ
dimwit, half-wit, literally “two hundred fifty”
Folk etymology: half of a 500-tael 半吊子 string, so 'not the full set'. The classic Beijing way to call someone a few bricks short.
脑残 腦殘
nǎocánㄋㄠˇ ㄘㄢˊ
brain-dead; retarded (derogatory), literally “brain damaged”
Internet-era insult, harsher than it looks: it borrows disability vocabulary, which is why many Chinese speakers consider it genuinely offensive rather than playful.
缺心眼
quē xīnyǎnrㄑㄩㄝ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄧㄢˇ
tactless; not all there, literally “missing a heart-eye”
心眼 is social intelligence; lacking it means oblivious rather than stupid. Said about the friend who can't read a room.
zhūtóuㄓㄨ ㄊㄡˊ
pig head, dope, literally “pig head”
Schoolyard-grade stupidity insult; a softer echo of calling someone 猪 ('you pig' is also common scolding).
húndànㄏㄨㄣˊ ㄉㄢˋ
bastard, jerk, literally “muddled egg”
The classic screen-villain insult, one step below the truly dirty ones. In movies it dubs nearly every 'bastard'; in real life it's real anger, not banter.
王八蛋
wángbadànㄨㄤˊ ㄅㄚ˙ ㄉㄢˋ
son of a bitch, bastard, literally “turtle egg”
China's most famous literary insult, centuries old. The turtle carried connotations of a cuckolded man, so the egg is 'spawn of a dishonored father'. Strong; period dramas use it constantly.
fèiwùㄈㄟˋ ㄨˋ
useless person, waste, literally “waste matter”
Cold contempt rather than hot anger: calling someone garbage-tier at functioning. Hurts more than it sounds.
人渣
rénzhāㄖㄣˊ ㄓㄚ
scum, garbage human, literally “human dregs”
Moral condemnation, not stupidity: reserved for cheaters, abusers, con artists. Internet usage is constant.
liúmángㄌㄧㄡˊ ㄇㄤˊ
hooligan; creep, pervert
Two lives: the original 'hoodlum, gangster', and the everyday '耍流氓' = acting pervy. Being called 流氓 usually means the second.
sèguǐㄙㄜˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
pervert, lech, literally “lust ghost”
The 鬼-family member for lechery. Half-teasing between friends, a real accusation otherwise.
húlijīngㄏㄨˊ ㄌㄧ˙ ㄐㄧㄥ
vixen, seductress, homewrecker, literally “fox spirit”
From folklore's shapeshifting fox spirits who bewitch men, now the standard slur for a woman accused of seducing someone's partner. Gendered and nasty.
铁公鸡 鐵公雞
tiěgōngjīㄊㄧㄝˇ ㄍㄨㄥ ㄐㄧ
the stingiest person alive, literally “iron rooster”
From the saying 铁公鸡一毛不拔: an iron rooster doesn't shed a single feather. Sharper than 小气鬼 because it's a proverb, not a tease.
shìliyǎnㄕˋ ㄌㄧ˙ ㄧㄢˇ
snob; status-obsessed, literally “power-and-profit eye”
The person who treats you by your net worth. A character attack, common in workplace and family complaints.
mǔlǎohǔㄇㄨˇ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ
tigress; domineering wife, literally “female tiger”
The henpecked-husband trope in one word. Sexist by construction; use carefully, though couples sometimes say it jokingly.
gǒutuǐziㄍㄡˇ ㄊㄨㄟˇ ㄗ˙
lackey, stooge, literally “dog's legs”
The boss's eager henchman. Dogs carry servile connotations in insult vocabulary (走狗, 狗眼看人低).
lǎolàiㄌㄠˇ ㄌㄞˋ
deadbeat, chronic debt-dodger, literally “old reneger”
Not slang but a quasi-legal term: courts publish 失信被执行人 'dishonest judgment defaulter' blacklists, everyone calls them 老赖. Serious accusation.
wōnangfèiㄨㄛ ㄋㄤ˙ ㄈㄟˋ
useless wimp, good-for-nothing, literally “spineless waste”
The classic put-down for a man who won't stand up for himself: 窝囊 is spineless, 废 is useless. Parents use it on sons, wives in arguments, never kindly.
yīguān qínshòuㄧ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄑㄧㄣˊ ㄕㄡˋ
a beast in fine clothes, literally “robed-and-hatted bird-beast”
Classical chengyu for the respectable-looking predator: the polished professional hiding rot. Once a compliment for mandarins (their robes bore birds and beasts), soured centuries ago.
斯文败类 斯文敗類
sīwén bàilèiㄙ ㄨㄣˊ ㄅㄞˋ ㄌㄟˋ
cultured scum; wolf in scholar's clothing, literally “refined degenerate”
The internet's favorite backhanded compliment-turned-insult: used for charming villains in dramas and for people whose polish is a trap. Often half-admiring.
jiànrénㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ
despicable person, bitch, literally “cheap person”
Heavy insult, mostly aimed at women in drama-land dialogue ('贱人就是矫情' is the most quoted line in Chinese TV history, from 甄嬛传). Real life usage is genuinely nasty.
tùzǎiziㄊㄨˋ ㄗㄞˇ ㄗ˙
little bastard, brat, literally “rabbit whelp”
The classic parental scolding: 小兔崽子 is what angry fathers yell chasing their kids in every period drama. Rough but family-internal.
狗娘养的 狗孃養的
gǒuniáng yǎng deㄍㄡˇ ㄋㄧㄤˊ ㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄜ˙
son of a bitch, literally “raised by a dog mother”
The literal-translation 'son of a bitch': dogs carry servile/low associations in insult vocab (狗腿子, 狗日的), and this attacks the mother for good measure. Heavy.
zázhǒngㄗㄚˊ ㄓㄨㄥˇ
mongrel, bastard, literally “mixed breed”
Old-school heavy insult attacking lineage: illegitimate parentage as curse. Sounds period-drama to young ears but still venomous.
biǎoziㄅㄧㄠˇ ㄗ˙
whore, bitch, literally “prostitute”
The gendered heavyweight: straight misogynistic abuse. Online it spawns the 婊 suffix family (绿茶婊, 圣母婊) which is milder by being absurd.
sāohuòㄙㄠ ㄏㄨㄛˋ
slut, tramp, literally “loose goods”
Venom aimed at women's perceived flirtiness: 骚 as 'loose/wanton' drives it. A real insult, not banter.
dàngfùㄉㄤˋ ㄈㄨˋ
slut (formal register), literally “loose woman”
The legal-moral register version: appears in moralizing texts and 荡妇羞辱 'slut-shaming' discussions. Clinical coldness makes it nastier, not softer.
sūnziㄙㄨㄣ ㄗ˙
grandson; servile nobody, literally “grandson”
Hierarchy insult: '装孙子' is to grovel, '你算个孙子' is pure contempt. Implies the target owes you generational deference.
nuòfūㄋㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄨ
coward, literally “weak man”
The formal written-word coward: drama dialogue, speeches, denunciations. Nobody says it on the street but everyone writes it.
ruǎngǔtouㄖㄨㄢˇ ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡ˙
spineless person, literally “soft bones”
For people who fold under pressure: the moral-cowardice insult. Its opposite 硬骨头 is a compliment, worth learning the pair.
jiàngǔtouㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨˇ ㄊㄡ˙
born-to-suffer type; cheap bones, literally “cheap bones”
For someone who can't be helped or treated nicely: punishes kindness, only respects harshness. Parent to teenager, master to apprentice.
pōfùㄆㄛ ㄈㄨˋ
shrew, virago, literally “splashing woman”
The woman who fights loud in the street: 泼 is 'splash' as in making a scene. Deeply gendered; there's no male counterpart and that's the point critics make.
huángliǎnpóㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄌㄧㄢˇ ㄆㄛˊ
old hag wife; faded woman, literally “yellow-faced wife”
The cruel word for a wife who 'let herself go': sallow complexion from years of kitchen smoke. Sexist staple of the unfaithful-husband excuse genre.
八婆
bāpóㄅㄚ ㄆㄛˊ
gossip queen, busybody, literally “eight woman”
The neighborhood gossip machine, snooping and spreading. Gendered but widely used; 三八婆 is the longer form.
白眼狼
báiyǎnlángㄅㄞˊ ㄧㄢˇ ㄌㄤˊ
ungrateful wretch, literally “white-eyed wolf”
The white-eyed wolf: a predator that stares coldly, the word for someone who bites the hand that raised them. Parents' favorite indictment.
jìshēngchóngㄐㄧˋ ㄕㄥ ㄔㄨㄥˊ
parasite, literally “parasitic bug”
Living off someone else's labor: applied to adult children who never leave, corrupt officials, anyone feeding off a host.
xīxuèguǐㄒㄧ ㄒㄩㄝˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
bloodsucker, exploiter, literally “blood-sucking ghost”
The workplace/economic insult: exploitative bosses, usurious lenders, leeching relatives. More economics than violence.
làiháma xiǎng chī tiān'é ròuㄌㄞˋ ㄏㄚˊ ㄇㄚ˙ ㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄔ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄜˊ ㄖㄡˋ
a toad dreaming of swan meat; way out of your league, literally “toad wants swan meat”
The great league-checking insult: you're a toad, she's a swan, know your place. Deployed against romantic overreach since the Ming novels.
chǒubāguàiㄔㄡˇ ㄅㄚ ㄍㄨㄞˋ
ugly freak, eyesore, literally “ugly monster”
Schoolyard-level appearance insult, harsh precisely because it's childish. Adults use it for pets and objects too (这狗丑八怪但可爱).
歪瓜裂枣 歪瓜裂棗
wāiguā lièzǎoㄨㄞ ㄍㄨㄚ ㄌㄧㄝˋ ㄗㄠˇ
crooked melons and cracked dates; sorry-looking bunch, literally “bent melon, split jujube”
For a whole disappointing group, not one person: '招来的全是歪瓜裂枣' describes a bad batch of recruits or contestants.
zéiméi shǔyǎnㄗㄟˊ ㄇㄟˊ ㄕㄨˇ ㄧㄢˇ
shifty-eyed, rat-faced, literally “thief brows, rat eyes”
Appearance-as-character: the classic description of someone who looks like they're up to something. Character judges, not appearance, technically.
碎嘴子
suìzuǐziㄙㄨㄟˋ ㄗㄨㄟˇ ㄗ˙
motormouth, gossip, literally “shredded mouth”
Won't shut up about other people's business: part gossip, part relentless commentary. Northern word.
有娘生没娘养 有娘生沒娘養
yǒu niáng shēng méi niáng yǎngㄧㄡˇ ㄋㄧㄤˊ ㄕㄥ ㄇㄟˊ ㄋㄧㄤˊ ㄧㄤˇ
born but not raised; no manners at all, literally “had a mother to birth you, none to raise you”
The nuclear manners insult: attacks the family, not the person. Implying the parents failed at raising a human.
没教养 沒教養
méi jiàoyǎngㄇㄟˊ ㄐㄧㄠˋ ㄧㄤˇ
ill-bred, no manners, literally “no upbringing”
The polite-looking version of the same accusation: you can say it at a dinner table, which is exactly why it lands.
什么东西 什麼東西
shénme dōngxiㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙ ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ˙
what kind of thing (is this person), literally “what thing”
Contempt through dehumanization: '你算个什么东西' = what the hell do you think you are. The '算' version is the full insult.
不是东西 不是東西
bùshì dōngxiㄅㄨˋ ㄕˋ ㄉㄨㄥ ㄒㄧ˙
not a decent person; a real piece of work, literally “isn't a thing”
The classic 'not even a thing': denies personhood entirely. Stronger than it reads, used for genuine scoundrels.
智障
zhìzhàngㄓˋ ㄓㄤˋ
mentally disabled (derogatory), literally “intelligence impaired”
Borrowed disability vocabulary as insult: common in internet speech but lands hard, and younger speakers increasingly treat it as genuinely offensive.
白左
báizuǒㄅㄞˊ ㄗㄨㄛˇ
baizuo; naive Western liberal, literally “white left”
The Chinese coinage that made it into English dictionaries: mockery of Western progressives as privileged and naive. Political but descriptive of real vocabulary.
gǔnㄍㄨㄣˇ
get lost, piss off, literally “roll”
One syllable, maximum dismissal. Between close friends it can be banter ('滚啦' with a laugh); said cold it's fighting words.
gǔndànㄍㄨㄣˇ ㄉㄢˋ
get lost, scram, literally “rolling egg”
滚 + the insult suffix 蛋. Roughly equivalent to 'beat it', less venomous than plain 滚 because it sounds almost comical.
去你的
qù nǐ deㄑㄩˋ ㄋㄧˇ ㄉㄜ˙
screw you, go to hell, literally “go yours”
The everyday middle register of defiance. Strong enough to be rude, common enough that friends trade it constantly.
jiànguǐㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
to hell with it; damn, literally “see a ghost”
Curses at a thing or situation rather than a person: 见鬼了 'what the hell'. Comparable to 'damn it'.
fàngpìㄈㄤˋ ㄆㄧˋ
bullshit, literally “fart”
The standard 'that's bullshit' rebuttal, vulgar but everywhere. 放 alone does the work: '你放!' is the censored version.
fèihuàㄈㄟˋ ㄏㄨㄚˋ
no kidding; useless talk, literally “waste words”
'Obviously!' As a rebuttal it's 'tell me something I don't know'; as a noun it's pointless chatter. Mild-strong, universal.
chědànㄔㄜˇ ㄉㄢˋ
bullshit; to talk nonsense, literally “pull the insipid (扯 pull + 淡 bland; 淡 is not 蛋 'egg')”
Northern vulgar standby, slightly softer than 放屁. '别扯淡了' = quit bullshitting. Also just means aimless chat in neutral register.
我靠
wǒkàoㄨㄛˇ ㄎㄠˋ
damn, holy shit (softened)
The self-censored form of 我操: swap the vowel, keep the force. Safe for public speech the way 'frick' is.
卧槽 臥槽
wòcáoㄨㄛˋ ㄘㄠˊ
what the f... (internet spelling), literally “lying slot”
The written disguise of 我操, near-homophone chosen because it passes content filters. Everyone knows what it stands for; it reads as 'WTF'.
妈的 媽的
mādeㄇㄚ ㄉㄜ˙
damn it, literally “mother's”
Short for 他妈的, itself euphemized from an explicit phrase. The everyday 'damn': stuck in traffic, spilled coffee, locked out.
tāmādeㄊㄚ ㄇㄚ ㄉㄜ˙
damn, f*cking (intensifier), literally “his mother's”
So old Lu Xun wrote a whole 1925 essay on it (论他妈的). Works as an intensifier anywhere in a sentence: 他妈的烦死了. Genuinely vulgar, genuinely universal.
傻逼
shǎbīㄕㄚˇ ㄅㄧ
dumbass, f*cking idiot, literally “stupid c**t”
The top-tier common insult: the second character is anatomically explicit, which is why 沙雕 and 傻X exist as filter-dodgers. Between best friends it's sometimes banter; to anyone else it's a slap.
shādiāoㄕㄚ ㄉㄧㄠ
absurd, brain-dead funny (censored homophone), literally “sand sculpture”
The internet's legal 傻逼: same sound, silly image. 沙雕图 'absurd memes' is a whole genre. Tone shifted from insult to 'hilariously dumb' affection.
装逼 裝逼
zhuāngbīㄓㄨㄤ ㄅㄧ
pretentious, showing off, literally “posing c**t”
Accusing someone of putting on airs: name-droppers, wine-swillers, hustle-posters. Vulgar etymology, daily-use word. The social sin modern China punishes hardest.
牛逼
niúbīㄋㄧㄡˊ ㄅㄧ
f*cking awesome, literally “cow c**t”
The great paradox: anatomically dirty etymology, functionally the highest everyday praise. '太牛了' is the clean version; 牛逼 is what people actually say when impressed.
耍流氓
shuǎ liúmángㄕㄨㄚˇ ㄌㄧㄡˊ ㄇㄤˊ
act like a perv; be a creep, literally “play the hooligan”
The accusation thrown at gropers and catcallers; also jokingly at partners being handsy. '流氓!' alone on the street means someone crossed a line.
biàntàiㄅㄧㄢˋ ㄊㄞˋ
pervert; perverted, literally “deviant”
Straightforward accusation for genuinely creepy behavior. Between friends '你也太变态了' can mean 'you're insanely good at this'.
bùyàoliǎnㄅㄨˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄌㄧㄢˇ
shameless, literally “doesn't want face”
Face-culture makes this cut deep: accusing someone of having no honor left to protect. 臭不要脸 and 死不要脸 are the amped versions.
quēdéㄑㄩㄝ ㄉㄜˊ
morally rotten, mean, literally “lacking virtue”
The moral insult: less vulgar than the strong set, aimed at people who do genuinely rotten things. Older generation's favorite.
操
càoㄘㄠˋ
f*ck (the verb itself), literally “to f*ck”
The bare root of the strong shelf: an exclamation on its own ('操,忘了'), a verb in 操你妈, and the engine behind every censored spelling below. Vulgar in all uses.
我操
wǒcàoㄨㄛˇ ㄘㄠˋ
holy f*ck, literally “I f*ck”
The actual strong form that 我靠 and 卧槽 exist to soften: written out fully it's the heavyweight exclamation, the one that gets bleeped and the one everyone self-censors around family.
操你妈 操你媽
cào nǐ māㄘㄠˋ ㄋㄧˇ ㄇㄚ
f*ck your mother; the nuclear option, literally “f*ck your mom”
The single most aggressive thing you can say: 'f*ck your mother'. This ends conversations, starts fights, and is why a whole euphemism industry (草泥马, 尼玛, 我靠) exists. Learn it to understand, deploy it never.
屄
bīㄅㄧ
c*nt (the anatomical original), literally “c*nt”
The character the whole 逼 family stands in for: 傻逼, 牛逼, 装逼, 二逼 all euphemize this. Written rarely, understood universally; knowing it decodes half the internet's swear orthography.
jībaㄐㄧ ㄅㄚ˙
dick (vulgar noun), literally “chicken thing”
The crude anatomical noun: '有鸡巴用' = f*cking useless, '懂个鸡巴' = doesn't know shit. Also censors to 寄吧/吉跋猫 variants online.
bīㄅㄧ
the all-purpose crude suffix, literally “c*nt (euphemized spelling)”
As a suffix it builds the workhorse tier of modern swearing: 傻逼 dumbass, 二逼 idiot, 逗逼 goofball, 苦逼 miserable bastard, 装逼 poser, 牛逼 awesome. Learn this one morpheme and you get six insults.
二逼
èrbīㄦˋ ㄅㄧ
dumbass, tool, literally “two c*nt”
Foolish in a try-hard way. 二 on its own is already 'dumb' northern-style (你二啊); the 逼 suffix makes it the vulgar version.
苦逼
kǔbīㄎㄨˇ ㄅㄧ
miserable bastard; life is hard, literally “bitter c*nt”
Mostly self-inflicted: '苦逼的打工人' = poor working stiff. Vulgar root, sympathetic use, the default word for complaining about your own life.
逗逼
dòubīㄉㄡˋ ㄅㄧ
lovable goofball, literally “funny c*nt”
The affectionate one: the friend who's always clowning. The 逼 suffix is fully bleached here, fine between friends.
别BB 別BB
bié BBㄅㄧㄝˊ BB
stop yapping; cut the crap, literally “don't blah”
BB (from 逼逼 'to blather') is the written shorthand for telling someone to shut up. '少BB' and '瞎BB' are the siblings.
蛋疼
dànténgㄉㄢˋ ㄊㄥˊ
balls ache; annoying, tedious, meh, literally “egg ache”
The groin metaphor for 'this is painfully stupid': boredom, exasperation and cringe rolled together. '闲得蛋疼' = bored out of your mind.
我日
wǒrìㄨㄛˇ ㄖˋ
wtf, f*ck me, literally “I f*ck”
Northern-heavy sibling of 我操: 日 is the dialect verb for the same act (狗日的 below). Slightly more rural-sounding, same tier.
狗日的
gǒurìdeㄍㄡˇ ㄖˋ ㄉㄜ˙
damned, motherf*cking, literally “dog-f*cked”
Classic northern curse adjective: '这狗日的天气' = this damned weather. Mo Yan novels run on it. Literary-vulgar.
去死吧
qùsǐbaㄑㄩˋ ㄙˇ ㄅㄚ˙
drop dead, go die, literally “go die”
Direct death wish: can be drama-queen banter between friends ('去死吧你' laughing) or a real curse. Tone is everything; written flatly it's hostile.
死远点 死遠點
sǐ yuǎn diǎnㄙˇ ㄩㄢˇ ㄉㄧㄢˇ
die somewhere far from me, literally “die a bit farther”
The distance-specific version: not just die, die away from here. Icy contempt.
zhǎosǐㄓㄠˇ ㄙˇ
asking for death; you got a death wish?, literally “looking for death”
The threat-response to provocation: '你找死啊' = do you want to die. Standard escalation vocabulary in arguments.
找抽
zhǎochōuㄓㄠˇ ㄔㄡ
asking for a slap, literally “looking for a smack”
The comic-book version of 找死: someone's being deliberately annoying and '你找抽呢吧' is the half-joking warning.
qiànzòuㄑㄧㄢˋ ㄗㄡˋ
needs a beating; punchable, literally “owes a beating”
The face that's asking for it: '这张脸真欠揍' = punchable face. Half-serious provocation register.
活腻了 活膩了
huónìleㄏㄨㄛˊ ㄋㄧˋ ㄌㄜ˙
tired of living, literally “grown tired of life”
The sarcastic death-threat: '你是不是活腻了' = are you bored of being alive. Mock-menacing, movie-villain energy.
弄死你
nòngsǐ nǐㄋㄨㄥˋ ㄙˇ ㄋㄧˇ
I'll kill you; finish you off, literally “handle you to death”
The generic deadly threat: ranges from real violence ('弄死') to sibling banter. 弄 as 'mess with/fix' makes it sound industrial.
要点脸 要點臉
yàodiǎn liǎnㄧㄠˋ ㄉㄧㄢˇ ㄌㄧㄢˇ
have some shame, literally “want a bit of face”
Face-culture scolding: '要点脸吧' deployed when someone's shamelessness crosses a line. Public, cutting, effective.
给脸不要脸 給臉不要臉
gěi liǎn bù yào liǎnㄍㄟˇ ㄌㄧㄢˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄌㄧㄢˇ
I gave you face and you spat on it, literally “given face, doesn't want face”
The escalation phrase: you showed me respect and I blew it. '别给脸不要脸' = don't push your luck after I've been nice.
蹬鼻子上脸 蹬鼻子上臉
dēng bízi shàng liǎnㄉㄥ ㄅㄧˊ ㄗ˙ ㄕㄤˋ ㄌㄧㄢˇ
climbing up your nose onto your face; taking a mile, literally “climb the nose up the face”
For someone exploiting your niceness: '你再让着他，他就蹬鼻子上脸' = give an inch and they'll climb on your face.
下地狱 下地獄
xiàdìyùㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄉㄧˋ ㄩˋ
go to hell, literally “descend into hell”
The literal 'go to hell': Buddhist-influenced register, sounds more dramatic-literary than street. '你该下地狱' is condemnatory.
不得好死
bù dé hǎo sǐㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ ㄏㄠˇ ㄙˇ
may you die badly, literally “won't get a good death”
The serious curse tier: wishing someone a bad death (violent, alone, unmourned). Heavy enough that joking with it is risky.
duànzǐ juésūnㄉㄨㄢˋ ㄗˇ ㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄙㄨㄣ
may your line die out; extinction curse, literally “cut sons, sever grandsons”
The worst traditional curse: in an ancestor-worshipping culture, wishing someone's family line ends is the ultimate attack. Rarely said lightly.
天打雷劈
tiān dǎ léi pīㄊㄧㄢ ㄉㄚˇ ㄌㄟˊ ㄆㄧ
may heaven's thunder strike you, literally “heaven strikes, thunder splits”
The divine-retribution curse, standard in oaths and denunciations: '我要是骗你，天打雷劈' is also how people swear innocence.
白目
báimùㄅㄞˊ ㄇㄨˋ
clueless, socially tone-deaf, literally “white eye”
Quintessential Taiwanese Mandarin: the person who misses every social cue and asks exactly the wrong question. Heard constantly in Taiwan, understood on the mainland.
机车 機車
jīchēㄐㄧ ㄔㄜ
annoying, fussy, insufferable, literally “motorbike”
Taiwanese staple for a person who's petty, naggy or impossible: '你很机车诶'. Etymology is debated, usage is universal.
kàoběiㄎㄠˋ ㄅㄟˇ
stop whining; quit your crying, literally “wailing about the father”
From Taiwanese 哭爸 'wail about one's father'. Now the standard 'quit complaining': 靠北哦. Taiwan-only register.
夭寿 夭壽
yāoshòuㄧㄠ ㄕㄡˋ
damn, heavens; (as modifier) cursed, literally “shortened life”
From Taiwanese Hokkien 夭寿 'die young'. Used like 'damn it all' or to curse something out: 夭寿哦. Sounds quaint-dramatic to mainland ears.
sānbāㄙㄢ ㄅㄚ
ditzy, silly (of women); nosy, literally “three eight”
Used on both sides of the strait, commonest in Taiwan. Mildly sexist usage (三八婆 = gossip queen); '死三八' is a real insult while plain 三八 can be teasing.
jīpóㄐㄧ ㄆㄛˊ
busybody, nosy hen, literally “chicken old-lady”
Taiwanese staple for the person who fusses over everyone's business: mildly affectionate tease in Taiwan, 'mind your own henhouse' energy.
俗辣
súlàㄙㄨˊ ㄌㄚˋ
wimp, chicken (Taiwanese), literally “common spicy”
Taiwan-only vocabulary: the coward who talks big and folds. Written Taiwanese-Mandarin; mainlanders read it as nonsense until explained.
扑街 撲街
pūjiēㄆㄨ ㄐㄧㄝ
drop dead; flop, fail hard, literally “fall on the street”
Cantonese loan into Mandarin internet: 'go die in the street' originally, now mostly 'failed hard' (that movie 扑街了 = bombed). Hong Kong movie heritage.
顶你个肺 頂你個肺
dǐng nǐ ge fèiㄉㄧㄥˇ ㄋㄧˇ ㄍㄜ˙ ㄈㄟˋ
up yours (softened Cantonese), literally “poke your lung”
The family-friendly bleaching of a harder Cantonese curse, mainstreamed nationwide by comedies. Mild.
guī'érziㄍㄨㄟ ㄦˊ ㄗ˙
turtle's son; little bastard (Sichuan), literally “turtle son”
Sichuan's signature insult: the turtle-as-cuckold imagery again (see 王八蛋). Heard constantly in Sichuanese speech and comedy.
瓜娃子
guāwáziㄍㄨㄚ ㄨㄚˊ ㄗ˙
fool, doofus (Sichuan), literally “melon kid”
Sichuan's affectionate idiot: 瓜 'melon' = dumb in Sichuanese. Usually teasing, even fond.
chuíziㄔㄨㄟˊ ㄗ˙
hammer; bullshit, hell no (Sichuan), literally “hammer”
Sichuan's all-purpose rude word: '吃个锤子' = like hell you're eating, '懂个锤子' = knows f*ck-all. Phallic euphemism at root.
耙耳朵
pā'ěrduoㄆㄚ ㄦˇ ㄉㄨㄛ˙
henpecked husband (Sichuan), literally “soft ear”
The husband whose ear the wife pulls: Sichuan culture flaunts it as affection, and Sichuanese men wear it proudly.
滚犊子 滾犢子
gǔndúziㄍㄨㄣˇ ㄉㄨˊ ㄗ˙
get lost (Northeastern), literally “roll, calf”
Northeast China's rolling dismiss: 犊子 'calf' builds the NE swear set: 滚犊子 get lost, 扯犊子 bullshit, 完犊子 doomed, 护犊子 fiercely protective.
扯犊子 扯犢子
chědúziㄔㄜˇ ㄉㄨˊ ㄗ˙
talking bullshit (Northeastern), literally “pulling a calf”
The NE version of 扯淡: '别跟我扯犊子' = don't give me that bullshit. Same register, more regional flavor.
完犊子 完犢子
wándúziㄨㄢˊ ㄉㄨˊ ㄗ˙
doomed, screwed (Northeastern), literally “finished calf”
The NE pronouncement of doom: '这下完犊子了' = we're screwed now. Self-directed commiseration mostly.
得瑟
dèseㄉㄜˋ ㄙㄜ˙
showing off smugly; ask for trouble, literally “swagger”
NE-origin word now national: flaunting, strutting, tempting fate. '看你能得瑟到什么时候' = enjoy it while it lasts.
彪
biāoㄅㄧㄠ
crazy-brave idiot (Northeastern), literally “tiger stripes”
Dalian's defining adjective: reckless-dumb, brave where brains should be. '你彪啊' = are you insane.
hǔㄏㄨˇ
reckless, dumb-brave, literally “tiger”
NE adjective for charging in stupidly: '这人真虎' praises audacity and questions judgment at once.
熊样 熊樣
xióngyàngㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄧㄤˋ
pathetic sight, literally “bear appearance”
NE mockery of someone's sorry state: '看你那熊样' = look at the state of you. Related to 熊孩子 but aimed at adults.
máitaiㄇㄞˊ ㄊㄞ˙
dirty, gross; to humiliate, literally “dirty”
NE standard: describes filth literally (屋里太埋汰) and as a verb 'to put down' (别埋汰人).
膈应 膈應
gèyingㄍㄜˋ ㄧㄥ˙
gross, off-putting, makes skin crawl, literally “diaphragm reaction”
NE for visceral disgust: the bug on the wall, the coworker's compliment, the relationship that ended weird. Physical-cringe word.
biēsānㄅㄧㄝ ㄙㄢ
punk, lowlife (Shanghai), literally “withered three”
Old Shanghai's word for street rats, supposedly from pidgin 'beg-sir' for beggars. Vintage but still understood everywhere.
小赤佬
xiǎochìlǎoㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄔˋ ㄌㄠˇ
little devil, punk (Shanghai), literally “little red ghost”
Shanghainese scolding, half-harsh half-fond: aunties yell it at kids. 赤佬 alone is a heavier insult.
丫挺的
yātīngdeㄧㄚ ㄊㄧㄥ ㄉㄜ˙
that bastard (Beijing), literally “servant-born”
Beijing's clipped classic, originally 丫头挺的 'born to a maid'. Now just the city's signature snarl-word.
什么玩意儿 什麼玩意兒
shénme wányìrㄕㄣˊ ㄇㄜ˙ ㄨㄢˊ ㄧˋ ㄦˊ
what the hell is this; what a joke, literally “what kind of plaything”
Contempt for a thing, a product or a performance: '这也叫电影？什么玩意儿'. The 儿化 makes it Beijing-flavored.
死心眼
sǐxīnyǎnㄙˇ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄧㄢˇ
stubborn, one-track mind, literally “dead heart-eye”
The person who can't bend: usually mocking inflexibility, sometimes admiring persistence. 心眼 is the social-brain organ insults keep targeting.
死鸭子嘴硬 死鴨子嘴硬
sǐyāzi zuǐyìngㄙˇ ㄧㄚ ㄗ˙ ㄗㄨㄟˇ ㄧㄥˋ
a dead duck's beak stays hard, literally “dead duck, hard mouth”
The saying for someone who won't admit they're wrong even cooked: 鸭子死了嘴还硬. Teasing but pointed.
一肚子坏水 一肚子壞水
yí dùzi huàishuǐㄧ ㄉㄨˋ ㄗ˙ ㄏㄨㄞˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
full of nasty schemes, literally “a bellyful of bad water”
坏水 = malicious ideas; a bellyful of them makes you the scheming villain of the group. Half-serious, half-amused.
我去
wǒqùㄨㄛˇ ㄑㄩˋ
omg, wtf (max-censored form), literally “I go”
The mildest rung of the ladder 我操 > 我靠 > 我去: same force, no characters left to censor. Says it with an emoji face.
我的天
wǒde tiānㄨㄛˇ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄊㄧㄢ
oh my god, literally “my heaven”
Universal shock reaction, no vulgarity at all: '我的天哪'. The one everyone can say in front of grandma.
无语 無語
wúyǔㄨˊ ㄩˇ
speechless, I can't even, literally “no words”
The deadpan verdict: 'I'm speechless at how dumb that is'. Mostly online-adjacent, delivered flat.
醉了
zuìleㄗㄨㄟˋ ㄌㄜ˙
I'm done, I can't believe it, literally “drunk”
'我也是醉了' = the sheer absurdity made me drunk. Peak 2014 internet, still in circulation.
服了
fúleㄈㄨˊ ㄌㄜ˙
I give up, unbelievable, literally “convinced/submit”
Ironic surrender: '我服了你了' can mean genuine respect or 'you win, you're too absurd to fight'. Tone decides.
晕死 暈死
yūnsǐㄩㄣ ㄙˇ
faint with exasperation, literally “dizzy to death”
The exaggerated physical reaction to stupidity: '我晕'. Text-era relic that survives in speech.
绝了 絕了
juéleㄐㄩㄝˊ ㄌㄜ˙
unbelievable (good or bad), literally “peerless”
Tone does everything: '绝了!' at a great performance means amazing; the same word at a disaster means I have no words.
雷人
léirénㄌㄟˊ ㄖㄣˊ
shocking, outrageous, literally “thunder-struck people”
Getting thunderstruck by something absurd: 太雷了. For content so bizarre it stuns, not for people.
qípāㄑㄧˊ ㄆㄚ
weirdo; bizarre character, literally “exotic flower”
Once a compliment ('rare bloom'), the internet inverted it into the word for absurd people and situations: 奇葩说 even built a hit show on it.
脑子进水 腦子進水
nǎozi jìnshuǐㄋㄠˇ ㄗ˙ ㄐㄧㄣˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
brain took on water; out of your mind
The diagnostic insult: '你脑子进水了吧' for decisions too dumb to explain otherwise. Family: 脑子有坑, 脑子被门夹了.
魔怔
mózhengㄇㄛˊ ㄓㄥ˙
possessed, obsessed, off the rails, literally “demon-afflicted”
For someone who's gone past unreasonable into unrecognizable, usually over an obsession: '他最近魔怔了'.
dǎoméiㄉㄠˇ ㄇㄟˊ
jinxed; damn my luck, literally “toppled mildew”
The bad-luck lament: '今天真倒霉' covers lost wallets and missed trains. Not aimed at anyone, just the universe.
倒了八辈子霉 倒了八輩子黴
dǎo le bābèizi méiㄉㄠˇ ㄌㄜ˙ ㄅㄚ ㄅㄟˋ ㄗ˙ ㄇㄟˊ
cursed for eight lifetimes, literally “mildew for eight generations”
倒霉 with generational scale: the most dramatic way to complain about fate, family, or a terrible boss.
huójiànguǐㄏㄨㄛˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄍㄨㄟˇ
seen a ghost in daylight; unbelievable, literally “living ghost-sighting”
For things too weird to be real: '大白天的活见鬼' = the world has gone mad.
邪门 邪門
xiéménㄒㄧㄝˊ ㄇㄣˊ
spooky, off, something's wrong, literally “evil door”
For situations that feel cursed rather than just bad: missing keys, flickering lights, the deal that's too good.
鬼上身
guǐ shàng shēnㄍㄨㄟˇ ㄕㄤˋ ㄕㄣ
possessed; what got into you, literally “ghost climbs aboard”
For uncharacteristic behavior: '你今天鬼上身了？' when a quiet friend suddenly goes wild.
哪根筋搭错 哪根筋搭錯
nǎ gēn jīn dācuòㄋㄚˇ ㄍㄣ ㄐㄧㄣ ㄉㄚ ㄘㄨㄛˋ
which wire got crossed; what's wrong with you, literally “which tendon wired wrong”
The diagnostic insult for inexplicable behavior: assumes malfunction rather than malice, which is its own insult.
吃错药 吃錯藥
chīcuò yàoㄔ ㄘㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄠˋ
took the wrong pills; you're crazy, literally “ate the wrong medicine”
The standard comeback to bizarre behavior: '你吃错药了吧' imagines pharmacological explanation for the madness.
没吃药 沒吃藥
méi chī yàoㄇㄟˊ ㄔ ㄧㄠˋ
didn't take your meds; you're off today, literally “didn't take medicine”
The mirror-image of 吃错药: your crazy isn't from wrong medication, it's from skipping it. Pair with 该吃药了.
chōufēngㄔㄡ ㄈㄥ
glitching, acting weird, literally “convulsing”
Software-crash metaphor for human weirdness: '这人又抽风了' when someone's behaving erratically. Also describes buggy code and flaky appliances.
fànbìngㄈㄢˋ ㄅㄧㄥˋ
having an episode; being crazy, literally “illness flaring up”
Medical framing for tantrums and drama: '别理他，犯病了' dismisses someone mid-meltdown.
想得美
xiǎng de měiㄒㄧㄤˇ ㄉㄜ˙ ㄇㄟˇ
keep dreaming; nice try, literally “thinking beautifully”
The standard 'in your dreams' retort: fantasy-shooter-downer for requests and hopes. 做梦 is the blunt sibling.
撒泡尿照照
sā pào niào zhàozhaoㄙㄚ ㄆㄠˋ ㄋㄧㄠˋ ㄓㄠˋ ㄓㄠ˙
piss and take a look at yourself, literally “take a piss and look”
The crudest 'know your place': go pee in a puddle and use it as a mirror. Delivers contempt without profanity, which makes it scarier.
哪凉快哪待着 哪涼快哪待著
nǎ liángkuai nǎ dāizheㄋㄚˇ ㄌㄧㄤˊ ㄎㄨㄞ˙ ㄋㄚˇ ㄉㄞ ㄓㄜ˙
go sit somewhere cool; get lost politely, literally “wherever's cool, stay there”
The sarcastic-kind dismissal: sounds like advice, means get out of my face. Beijing-flavored.
气死我了 氣死我了
qì sǐ wǒ leㄑㄧˋ ㄙˇ ㄨㄛˇ ㄌㄜ˙
I'm so mad I could die, literally “angered me to death”
The universal rage exclamation: yelled to no one in particular about traffic, games, colleagues and life itself.
踩到狗屎
cǎi dào gǒushǐㄘㄞˇ ㄉㄠˋ ㄍㄡˇ ㄕˇ
stepped in dogshit; (ironically) weird luck, literally “stepped on dog shit”
Literally a misfortune, but 狗屎运 'dogshit luck' means inexplicable GOOD luck: '他踩了狗屎运才中彩票'.